Rupesh Paul: 'We are not cashing in on the flight'

Indian film director Rupesh Paul has confirmed that he is making a film about missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Speaking at the Cannes film festival, Paul defended the plans for the contentious film titled 'Vanishing Act,' claiming that he is "not cashing in on the flight."

"Our movie is a thriller," he told the Hollywood Reporter. "It will not be based on stupid things. There will not be a [gun] and there will not be any aliens. The controversy [of the missing plane] will help indirectly, but we are not cashing in on the flight."

"People do not want a documentary, they want a thriller," he added. "Why should I make a movie … that does not attract people?"

He added that the film, which is described as being "inspired from events in real life" "will not affect any passengers' families."

The director's production company RPPL revealed the plotline for the film as "the story of five young people, their plans on revenge and the resulting havoc they infuse on the world."

He claims the film would work as a standalone thriller, regardless of the outcome of the real-life mystery of the missing flight.

The controversy [of the missing plane] will help indirectly, but we are not cashing in on the flight.

- Rupesh Paul

Paul, who is touting 'Vanishing Act' to investors at the Cannes film festival, said he has had a positive reaction to the project, with interest from companies in both Malaysia and China.

The director is used to courting controversy with his films which include The Secret Diaries of Monalisa (2011), The Temptation Between My Legs (2008), and Kamasutra 3D.

Hollywood producer JC Spink, who produced The Hangover trilogy, We're the Millers and 2005's plane-set thriller Red Eye, recently revealed that there were numerous projects in the pipeline based on the mystery of the missing flight.

He told Hollywood Reporter: "It's a shocking tragedy, but even so, I guarantee there are 50 different people working on 50 different projects that are either inspired by it or based directly on it right now."

In March, the Australian disaster film Deep Water, about a plane that crashes in a remote part of the ocean en route to China, was shelved following the disappearance of MH370.

Producers said they were putting pre-production of the film on hold after the Malaysian Airlines went missing.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.